PIPERAZINE AND LYCETOL OMITTED FROM N. N. R.

Report of the Council on Pharmacy and Chemistry

The following report explaining the omission from New and Non­official Remedies of Piperazine and Lycetol has been authorized for publication.

W. A. Puckner, Secretary.

Piperazine (diethylenediamene) and Lycetol (a methyl derivative of diethylenediamene) were accepted for New and Non­official Remedies in 1906. Both Piperazine and Lycetol were asserted to be efficient uric acid solvents and efficacious remedies in the treatment of gout and rheumatism. These products have been retained until now because there was no investigation which definitely showed their uselessness as uric acid solvents, though their use is generally admitted to have been disappointing.

From an exhaustive and critical study of the available evidence, Hanzlik (Jour. Lab. & Clin. Med., February, 1917) concluded that scientific evidence, though limited, and clinical opinion indicate that Piperazine is valueless in gout and that there is sufficient scientific evidence to indicate the worthlessness of Lycetol.

The referee in charge of Piperazine and Lycetol recommended that these products be omitted from New and Non­official Remedies for the reason that they have been sufficiently tried to justify the conclusion that they are not of value. The period of acceptance having expired, the Council directed that Piperazine and Piperazine Tablets (The Bayer Company, Inc.) and Lycetol (The Bayer Company, Inc.) be omitted from New and Non­official Remedies.—(From Reports of Council on Pharmacy and Chemistry, 1918, p. 70.)